This was my second year of being away from my family on Christmas Day. Honestly, I have to admit that this year was pretty hard knowing that I wouldn’t get a chance to see them. When you’re on the phone and you can hear your family together in the background, it certainly makes you second guess the choice not to be there.
But spending a Christmas with the other KNOM volunteers will be something I will remember for the rest of my life – worth the sacrifice of not being at home.
Daynee spent several weeks writing and editing this year’s Radio Christmas Play, an annual tradition for KNOM Volunteers. It was an original play including angels, zombies, and Eva’s entire family. Lucus spent an immense amount of time producing the play after weeks of volunteers, staff and community members recording our parts. None of us knew what the finished product would sound like. On Christmas morning, we all sat around the Christmas tree in our living room and turned up the radio to listen to the final production of “The Elements of Christmas.” I felt like I was living in another era, reminded of times when families gathered around the radio to hear the news, theater, and music. We were all taken back together, sharing in a simple moment hearing our voices, our acting – unsure of what would happen next in the adventure.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of the typical Christmas season, I will always remember this Christmas of 2012 fondly: family time around the tree, exchanging gifts, opening presents sent from our families, drinking Daynee’s api, eating homemade banana bread made by Lucus, smelling Eva’s turkey roasting in the oven, and literally rocking around our Christmas tree to Josh’s mix of music. This will always be a Christmas to remember.
